Pump



June 1, 1965 HOPE I 3,186,346

PUMP

Filed NOV. 15, 1963 INVENTOR. HENRY HQPE ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,186,346 PUMP Henry Hope, 195 Welsh Road, Huntingdon Valley, Pa. Filed Nov. 15, 1963, Ser. No. 324,084 1 Claim. (Cl. 103-87) This invention relates to a liquid translating pump. A liquid translating pump includes a casing containing the liquid propelling element and having a liquid inlet and a liquid outlet, a motor for actuating said element, and a seal at the point at which the shaft enters the casing. In such arrangement, if the seal is tight enough to prevent leaks, it imposes a load on the motor and tends to heat and wear out. If the seal is loose enough not to interfere with the efiiciency of the pump it will not be leak proof. In cases where the liquid is toxic the leakage can be dangerous and in cases where the liquid is expensive, the leakage is wasteful.

One object of this invention is to produce an improved pump in which the liquid seal need not be leak-proof or can be wholly dispensed with.

The full nature of the invention will be understood from the following specification and the accompanying drawing which is a highly diagrammatic representation of a preferred embodiment of the invention.

In the drawing, designates a reservoir containing the liquid to be translated, and 12 designates a pipe leading from the bottom of the reservoir to the suction side of a pump casing 14 the discharge side of which is connected, by pipe 16 to a portion of tank 10 above the bottom thereof. Pump casing 14 encloses an impeller, or other liquid propelling element which is driven by shaft 18 of a motor M. Convention'ally, shaft 18 must enter casing 14 through a leak proof gland, or seal 19 which, as above set forth, can be troublesome.

According to the present invention the pump casing and the motor shaft are enclosed in a housing 20 which also supports motor M and from which pipe 22 leads back to reservoir 10. It will be noted that conduit 22 leaves housing 20 at a point well below the top thereof and that reservoir 10, or at least the top thereof, is below the point at which conduit 22 leaves housing 20 so that there is no occasion for the liquid to back up from reservoir 10 to housing 20 or out through the opening in the top of housing 20 through which the motor shaft enters. By this arrangement no real tight seal is needed at the point at which the motor shaft 18 enters housing 20 or at the point at which said shaft enters housing 20 because the small amount of liquid which may leak from pump casing 14 is collected in housing 20 and is removed, by pipe 22. It will be noted that conduit 22 is above pump casing 14 3,185,346 Patented June 1, 1965 'ice whereby the latter is always submersed. This keeps the impeller cool and prevents air from breaking the suction.

It will thus be seen that by enclosing the pump within housing 20 and by providing conduit 22 which leads from housing 20 at a point below the top thereof, I eliminate all the expense heretofore incurred in making and maintaining leakproof connections and I conserve the liquid. In addition I can either recirculate the liquid, as shown, or I can extend pipe 22 so as to remove the liquid from one place to another for drainage or other use.

Pipes 12, 16 and 22, being non-movable can be soldered, welded, or otherwise secured to housing 20 in leak proof manner. The top wall of housing 20 can be made easily removable to alford access to the pump casing or other parts.

What I claim is:

A pump assembly including:

an outer housing,

a pump casing in said housing,

an impeller in said casing,

a shaft passing through the top wall of said housing and entering said pump casing through the top wall thereof.

a motor without said housing,

said motor shaft being operatively connected to said motor and said impeller,

an intake pipe passing in leak-proof manner through a wall of said housing and through a wall of said casing at the low pressure side of said pump,

a discharge pipe leading from the high pressure side of said pump and passing, in leak-proof manner, through a wall of said pump casing and through a wall of said housing, and

an overflow pipe leading from said housing at a point above the entry of said shaft into said pump casing and below the entry of said shaft through the top of said housing, to keep the impeller submerged and to prevent leakage through the top wall of the housing so as to dispense with packing at the entrance of the shaft into said housing of said casing.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,432,004 12/47 Gray 103-113 FOREIGN PATENTS 28,285 10/24 France.

(4th addition to No. 538,383)

LAURENCE V. EFNER, Primary Examiner.

ROBERT M. WALKER, Examiner. 

